Boston’s entire offseason case rests on a single variable nobody can fully control. ESPN’s Vincent Goodwill projected the Celtics at 48-34 and fifth in the Eastern Conference for 2026-27, a notably modest forecast for a franchise that has posted 50 or more wins in five of the last six seasons. His reasoning, laid out on Aug. 25, comes down to one name: “Boston is banking on a full season from Jayson Tatum,” Goodwill wrote, “and hoping Paul George can stay upright and healthy.” A sub-50-win season would be the Celtics’ first since 2020-21, when they went 36-36. That is the gap between where this roster has lived recently and where the league’s own projections now put it.
Teams
Cade Cunningham and the Pistons’ Continuity Bet
Detroit’s offseason has to answer for one specific collapse. The Pistons won 60 games last season, their first 60-win season in 20 years and their first No. 1 seed in the East since 2006-07, then lost Game 7 of the conference semifinals 125-94 at home to Cleveland on May 17, a blowout in which Cade Cunningham scored just 13 points and went scoreless for most of the second half before getting pulled once the game was decided. That gap, between the best regular season the franchise has produced in two decades and a home elimination that lopsided, is the entire premise behind what Detroit did this summer, and whether it did enough is now a live, public question.
Cleveland Cavaliers 2026-27 Season Preview: A Retooled Contender Aims Past the Knicks Sweep
This Cleveland Cavaliers 2026-27 season preview starts in Spain. The Cavaliers will hold training camp at the Embassy, a basketball facility in Fuengirola co-designed by former Cavs guard Jose Calderon, running from roughly Sept. 30 through Oct. 5 after a Sept. 28 media day, according to the team’s own camp announcement. It is an unusual way to open a season for a team with unfinished business: Cleveland was swept out of the Eastern Conference finals by the New York Knicks last spring, and everything the front office did this offseason was built around not letting that happen again.
Denver Nuggets 2026-27 Season Preview: A Bench Overhaul, and a Tax Bill to Match
This Denver Nuggets 2026-27 season preview starts with the bench. The Nuggets spent the 2026 offseason answering a specific problem from their first-round playoff exit: a bench that could not hold leads when Nikola Jokic sat down. Denver lost to Minnesota in the first round despite entering the playoffs as the No. 3 seed, with … Read more
Orlando Magic 2026-27 Season Preview: Three Storylines That Will Define Camp
This Orlando Magic 2026-27 season preview starts with last spring’s collapse. The Magic open training camp on Sept. 29 trying to move past the way their last season ended: an 8-seed finish at 45-37, a play-in win over Charlotte after a loss to Philadelphia, and a first-round exit in which Orlando blew a 3-1 series … Read more
Chicago Bulls 2026-27 Season Preview: A New Brain Trust Builds Around a Rebuilt Backcourt
This Chicago Bulls 2026-27 season preview starts with a front office overhaul. The Bulls enter training camp this month with a new head of basketball operations, a new head coach and a reshaped roster, the clearest sign yet that Chicago is not simply running back the same team it fielded a year ago. Bryson Graham … Read more
New York Knicks 2026-27 Season Preview: Title Defense Begins With a Banner and a LeBron Debut
This New York Knicks 2026-27 season preview starts on opening night. The Knicks will open defense of their first NBA championship since 1973 on Oct. 20, 2026, hosting the Philadelphia 76ers at Madison Square Garden in a game the league scheduled specifically to double as New York’s ring ceremony and banner raising, according to NBA.com’s … Read more
Los Angeles Lakers Roster, Depth Chart and Schedule 2026-27
Data snapshot: September 12, 2026. The roster and schedule modules will be reviewed after every transaction and at least once each week during the season. The Los Angeles Lakers enter 2026-27 with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves at the center of the offense, a substantially reshaped supporting cast and one of the NBA’s most demanding … Read more
Charlotte Hornets After LaMelo Ball Trade: New Roster Plan
The Charlotte Hornets enter the 2026-27 season with a fundamentally different roster after trading LaMelo Ball to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The deal moved Ball and Josh Green to Minnesota and brought Charlotte Naz Reid, Mouhamadou Gueye, a 2033 first-round pick, three future first-round pick swaps, three second-round picks and the draft rights to Matteo Spagnolo. … Read more
Cavaliers Take 2026 Training Camp to Andalusia, Spain
The Cavaliers will open their 2026 training camp in Andalusia, Spain. The Cleveland Cavaliers will hold their 2026 training camp at The Embassy Training Center Higuerón in Andalusia, Spain. The team announced that camp will begin Sept. 30 and will be presented by Cleveland Clinic. The overseas setting makes Cleveland’s camp one of the more … Read more